章节正文
Now, let us shut up the stable, and bid the old fellow good-night:
Ah! We can't breed 'em, the sort that were bred when we old 'uns were young.
Yes, I was saying, these bushrangers, none of 'em lived to be hung,
Gilbert was shot by the troopers, Hall was betrayed by his friend,
Campbell disposed of O'Maley, bringing the lot to an end.
Page: 143
But you can talk about riding - I've ridden a lot in the past -
Wait till there's rifles behind you, you'll know what it means to go fast!
I've steeplechased, raced, and `run horses',
but I think the most dashing of all
Was the ride when the old fellow saved me from Gilbert, O'Maley and Hall!
Page: 144
``HE GIVETH HIS BELOVED SLEEP''
THE long day passes with its load of sorrow:
In slumber deep
I lay me down to rest until to-morrow -
Thank God for sleep.
Thank God for all respite from weary toiling,
From cares that creep
Across our lives like evil shadows, spoiling
God's kindly sleep.
We plough and sow, and, as the hours grow later,
We strive to reap,
And build our barns, and hope to build them greater
Before we sleep.
We toil and strain and strive with one another
In hopes to heap
Some greater share of profit than our brother
Before we sleep.
Page: 145
What will it profit that with tears or laughter
Our watch we keep?
Beyond it all there lies the Great Hereafter!
Thank God for sleep!
For, at the last, beseeching Christ to save us,
We turn with deep
Heart-felt thanksgiving unto God, who gave us
The Gift of Sleep.
Page: 146
DRIVER SMITH
'TWAS Driver Smith of Battery A was anxious to see a fight;
He thought of the Transvaal all the day, he thought of it all the night -
`Well, if the battery's left behind, I'll go to the war,' says he,
`I'll go a-driving an ambulance in the ranks of the A.M.C.
`I'm fairly sick of these here parades, it's want of a change that kills
`A-charging the Randwick Rifle Range and aiming at Surry Hills.
`And I think if I go with the ambulance I'm certain to find a show,
`For they have to send the Medical men wherever the troops can go.
Page: 147
`Wherever the rifle bullets flash and the Maxims raise a din,
`It's there you'll find the Medical men a-raking the wounded in -
`A-raking 'em in like human flies - and a driver smart like me
`Will find some scope for his extra skill in the ranks of the A.M.C.'
So Driver Smith he went to the war a-cracking his driver's whip,
From ambulance to collecting base they showed him his regular trip.
And he said to the boys that were marching past, as he gave his whip a crack,
`You'll walk yourselves to the fight,' says he -
`Lord spare me, I'll drive you back.'
Now, the fight went on in the Transvaal hills for the half of a day or more,
And Driver Smith he worked his trip - all aboard for the seat of war!
He took his load from the stretcher men and hurried 'em homeward fast
Till he heard a sound that he knew full well - a battery rolling past.
Page: 148
He heard the clink of the leading chains and the roll of the guns behind -
He heard the crack of the drivers' whips,
and he says to 'em, `Strike me blind,
`I'll miss me trip with this ambulance, although I don't care to shirk,
`But I'll take the car off the line to-day and follow the guns at work.'
Then up the Battery Colonel came a-cursing 'em black in the face.
`Sit down and shift 'em, you drivers there, and gallop 'em into place.'
So off the Battery rolled and swung, a-going a merry dance,
And holding his own with the leading gun goes Smith with his ambulance.
They opened fire on the mountain side, a-peppering by and large,
When over the hill above their flank the Boers came down at the charge;
They rushed the guns with a daring rush, a-volleying left and right,
And Driver Smith with his ambulance moved up to the edge of the fight.
Page: 149
The gunners stuck to their guns like men, and fought like the wild cats fight,
For a Battery man don't leave his gun with ever a hope in sight;
But the bullets sang and the Mausers cracked and the Battery men gave way,
Till Driver Smith with his ambulance drove into the thick of the fray.
He saw the head of the Transvaal troop a-thundering to and fro,
A hard old face with a monkey beard - a face that he seemed to know;
`Now, who's that leader,' said Driver Smith, `I've seen him before to-day.
`Why, bless my heart, but it's Kruger's self,'
and he jumped for him straight away.
He collared old Kruger round the waist and hustled him into the van.
It wasn't according to stretcher drill for raising a wounded man;
But he forced him in and said, `All aboard, we're off for a little ride,
And you'll have the car to yourself,' says he, `I reckon we're full inside.'
Page: 150
He wheeled his team on the mountain side and set 'em a merry pace,
A-galloping over the rocks and stones, and a lot of the Boers gave chase;
But Driver Smith had a fairish start, and he said to the Boers, `Good-day,
`You have Buckley's chance for to catch a man that was trained in Battery A.'
He drove his team to the hospital and said to the P.M.O.,
`Beg pardon, sir, but I missed a trip, mistaking the way to go;
`And Kruger came to the ambulance and asked could we spare a bed,
`So I fetched him here, and we'll take him home to show for a bob a head.'
So the word went round to the English troops to say they need fight no more,
For Driver Smith with his ambulance had ended the blooming war:
And in London now at the music halls he's starring it every night,
And drawing a hundred pounds a week to tell how he won the fight.
Page: 151
THERE'S ANOTHER BLESSED HORSE FELL
DOWN
WHEN you're lying in your hammock, sleeping soft and sleeping sound,
Without a care or trouble on your mind,
And there's nothing to disturb you but the engines going round,
And you're dreaming of the girl you left behind;
In the middle of your joys you'll be wakened by a noise,
And a clatter on the deck above your crown,
And you'll hear the corporal shout as he turns the picket out,
`There's another blessed horse fell down.'
You can see 'em in the morning, when you're cleaning out the stall,
A-leaning on the railings nearly dead,
Page: 152
And you reckon by the evening they'll be pretty sure to fall,
And you curse them as you tumble into bed.
Oh, you'll hear it pretty soon, `Pass the word for Denny Moon,
There's a horse here throwing handsprings like a clown;
And it's `Shove the others back or he'll cripple half the pack,
There's another blessed horse fell down.'
And when the war is over and the fighting all is done,
And you're all at home with medals on your chest,
And you've learnt to sleep so soundly that the firing of a gun
At your bedside wouldn't rob you of your rest;
As you lie in slumber deep, if your wife walks in her sleep,
And tumbles down the stairs and breaks her crown,
Oh, it won't awaken you, for you'll say, `It's nothing new,
`It's another blessed horse fell down.'
Page: 153
ON THE TREK
OH, the weary, weary journey on the trek, day after day,
With sun above and silent veldt below;
And our hearts keep turning homeward to the youngsters far away,
And the homestead where the climbing roses grow.
Shall we see the flats grow golden with the ripening of the grain?
Shall we hear the parrots calling on the bough?
Ah! the weary months of marching ere we hear them call again,
For we're going on a long job now.
In the drowsy days on escort, riding slowly half asleep,
With the endless line of waggons stretching back,
Page: 154
While the khaki soldiers travel like a mob of travelling sheep,
Plodding silent on the never-ending track,
While the constant snap and sniping of the foe you never see
Makes you wonder will your turn come - when and how?
As the Mauser ball hums past you like a vicious kind of bee -
Oh! we're going on a long job now.
When the dash and the excitement and the novelty are dead,
And you've seen a load of wounded once or twice,
Or you've watched your old mate dying - with the vultures overhead,
Well, you wonder if the war is worth the price.
And down along Monaro now they're starting out to shear,
I can picture the excitement and the row;
But they'll miss me on the Lachlan when they call the roll this year,
For we're going on a long job now.
Page: 155
THE LAST PARADE
WITH never a sound of trumpet,
With never a flag displayed,
The last of the old campaigners
Lined up for the last parade.
Weary they were and battered,
Shoeless, and knocked about;
From under their ragged forelocks
Their hungry eyes looked out.
And they watched as the old commander
Read out, to the cheering men,
The Nation's thanks and the orders
To carry them home again.
And the last of the old campaigners,
Sinewy, lean, and spare -
He spoke for his hungry comrades:
`Have we not done our share?
`Starving and tired and thirsty
`We limped on the blazing plain;
`And after a long night's picket
`You saddled us up again.
`We froze on the wind-swept kopjes
`When the frost lay snowy-white.
`Never a halt in the daytime,
`Never a rest at night!
`We knew when the rifles rattled
`From the hillside bare and brown,
`And over our weary shoulders
`We felt warm blood run down,
`As we turned for the stretching gallop,
`Crushed to the earth with weight;
`But we carried our riders through it -
`Carried them p'raps too late.
`Steel! We were steel to stand it -
`We that have lasted through,
`We that are old campaigners
`Pitiful, poor, and few.
`Over the sea you brought us,
`Over the leagues of foam:
`Now we have served you fairly
`Will you not take us home?
`Home to the Hunter River,
Ah! We can't breed 'em, the sort that were bred when we old 'uns were young.
Yes, I was saying, these bushrangers, none of 'em lived to be hung,
Gilbert was shot by the troopers, Hall was betrayed by his friend,
Campbell disposed of O'Maley, bringing the lot to an end.
Page: 143
But you can talk about riding - I've ridden a lot in the past -
Wait till there's rifles behind you, you'll know what it means to go fast!
I've steeplechased, raced, and `run horses',
but I think the most dashing of all
Was the ride when the old fellow saved me from Gilbert, O'Maley and Hall!
Page: 144
``HE GIVETH HIS BELOVED SLEEP''
THE long day passes with its load of sorrow:
In slumber deep
I lay me down to rest until to-morrow -
Thank God for sleep.
Thank God for all respite from weary toiling,
From cares that creep
Across our lives like evil shadows, spoiling
God's kindly sleep.
We plough and sow, and, as the hours grow later,
We strive to reap,
And build our barns, and hope to build them greater
Before we sleep.
We toil and strain and strive with one another
In hopes to heap
Some greater share of profit than our brother
Before we sleep.
Page: 145
What will it profit that with tears or laughter
Our watch we keep?
Beyond it all there lies the Great Hereafter!
Thank God for sleep!
For, at the last, beseeching Christ to save us,
We turn with deep
Heart-felt thanksgiving unto God, who gave us
The Gift of Sleep.
Page: 146
DRIVER SMITH
'TWAS Driver Smith of Battery A was anxious to see a fight;
He thought of the Transvaal all the day, he thought of it all the night -
`Well, if the battery's left behind, I'll go to the war,' says he,
`I'll go a-driving an ambulance in the ranks of the A.M.C.
`I'm fairly sick of these here parades, it's want of a change that kills
`A-charging the Randwick Rifle Range and aiming at Surry Hills.
`And I think if I go with the ambulance I'm certain to find a show,
`For they have to send the Medical men wherever the troops can go.
Page: 147
`Wherever the rifle bullets flash and the Maxims raise a din,
`It's there you'll find the Medical men a-raking the wounded in -
`A-raking 'em in like human flies - and a driver smart like me
`Will find some scope for his extra skill in the ranks of the A.M.C.'
So Driver Smith he went to the war a-cracking his driver's whip,
From ambulance to collecting base they showed him his regular trip.
And he said to the boys that were marching past, as he gave his whip a crack,
`You'll walk yourselves to the fight,' says he -
`Lord spare me, I'll drive you back.'
Now, the fight went on in the Transvaal hills for the half of a day or more,
And Driver Smith he worked his trip - all aboard for the seat of war!
He took his load from the stretcher men and hurried 'em homeward fast
Till he heard a sound that he knew full well - a battery rolling past.
Page: 148
He heard the clink of the leading chains and the roll of the guns behind -
He heard the crack of the drivers' whips,
and he says to 'em, `Strike me blind,
`I'll miss me trip with this ambulance, although I don't care to shirk,
`But I'll take the car off the line to-day and follow the guns at work.'
Then up the Battery Colonel came a-cursing 'em black in the face.
`Sit down and shift 'em, you drivers there, and gallop 'em into place.'
So off the Battery rolled and swung, a-going a merry dance,
And holding his own with the leading gun goes Smith with his ambulance.
They opened fire on the mountain side, a-peppering by and large,
When over the hill above their flank the Boers came down at the charge;
They rushed the guns with a daring rush, a-volleying left and right,
And Driver Smith with his ambulance moved up to the edge of the fight.
Page: 149
The gunners stuck to their guns like men, and fought like the wild cats fight,
For a Battery man don't leave his gun with ever a hope in sight;
But the bullets sang and the Mausers cracked and the Battery men gave way,
Till Driver Smith with his ambulance drove into the thick of the fray.
He saw the head of the Transvaal troop a-thundering to and fro,
A hard old face with a monkey beard - a face that he seemed to know;
`Now, who's that leader,' said Driver Smith, `I've seen him before to-day.
`Why, bless my heart, but it's Kruger's self,'
and he jumped for him straight away.
He collared old Kruger round the waist and hustled him into the van.
It wasn't according to stretcher drill for raising a wounded man;
But he forced him in and said, `All aboard, we're off for a little ride,
And you'll have the car to yourself,' says he, `I reckon we're full inside.'
Page: 150
He wheeled his team on the mountain side and set 'em a merry pace,
A-galloping over the rocks and stones, and a lot of the Boers gave chase;
But Driver Smith had a fairish start, and he said to the Boers, `Good-day,
`You have Buckley's chance for to catch a man that was trained in Battery A.'
He drove his team to the hospital and said to the P.M.O.,
`Beg pardon, sir, but I missed a trip, mistaking the way to go;
`And Kruger came to the ambulance and asked could we spare a bed,
`So I fetched him here, and we'll take him home to show for a bob a head.'
So the word went round to the English troops to say they need fight no more,
For Driver Smith with his ambulance had ended the blooming war:
And in London now at the music halls he's starring it every night,
And drawing a hundred pounds a week to tell how he won the fight.
Page: 151
THERE'S ANOTHER BLESSED HORSE FELL
DOWN
WHEN you're lying in your hammock, sleeping soft and sleeping sound,
Without a care or trouble on your mind,
And there's nothing to disturb you but the engines going round,
And you're dreaming of the girl you left behind;
In the middle of your joys you'll be wakened by a noise,
And a clatter on the deck above your crown,
And you'll hear the corporal shout as he turns the picket out,
`There's another blessed horse fell down.'
You can see 'em in the morning, when you're cleaning out the stall,
A-leaning on the railings nearly dead,
Page: 152
And you reckon by the evening they'll be pretty sure to fall,
And you curse them as you tumble into bed.
Oh, you'll hear it pretty soon, `Pass the word for Denny Moon,
There's a horse here throwing handsprings like a clown;
And it's `Shove the others back or he'll cripple half the pack,
There's another blessed horse fell down.'
And when the war is over and the fighting all is done,
And you're all at home with medals on your chest,
And you've learnt to sleep so soundly that the firing of a gun
At your bedside wouldn't rob you of your rest;
As you lie in slumber deep, if your wife walks in her sleep,
And tumbles down the stairs and breaks her crown,
Oh, it won't awaken you, for you'll say, `It's nothing new,
`It's another blessed horse fell down.'
Page: 153
ON THE TREK
OH, the weary, weary journey on the trek, day after day,
With sun above and silent veldt below;
And our hearts keep turning homeward to the youngsters far away,
And the homestead where the climbing roses grow.
Shall we see the flats grow golden with the ripening of the grain?
Shall we hear the parrots calling on the bough?
Ah! the weary months of marching ere we hear them call again,
For we're going on a long job now.
In the drowsy days on escort, riding slowly half asleep,
With the endless line of waggons stretching back,
Page: 154
While the khaki soldiers travel like a mob of travelling sheep,
Plodding silent on the never-ending track,
While the constant snap and sniping of the foe you never see
Makes you wonder will your turn come - when and how?
As the Mauser ball hums past you like a vicious kind of bee -
Oh! we're going on a long job now.
When the dash and the excitement and the novelty are dead,
And you've seen a load of wounded once or twice,
Or you've watched your old mate dying - with the vultures overhead,
Well, you wonder if the war is worth the price.
And down along Monaro now they're starting out to shear,
I can picture the excitement and the row;
But they'll miss me on the Lachlan when they call the roll this year,
For we're going on a long job now.
Page: 155
THE LAST PARADE
WITH never a sound of trumpet,
With never a flag displayed,
The last of the old campaigners
Lined up for the last parade.
Weary they were and battered,
Shoeless, and knocked about;
From under their ragged forelocks
Their hungry eyes looked out.
And they watched as the old commander
Read out, to the cheering men,
The Nation's thanks and the orders
To carry them home again.
And the last of the old campaigners,
Sinewy, lean, and spare -
He spoke for his hungry comrades:
`Have we not done our share?
`Starving and tired and thirsty
`We limped on the blazing plain;
`And after a long night's picket
`You saddled us up again.
`We froze on the wind-swept kopjes
`When the frost lay snowy-white.
`Never a halt in the daytime,
`Never a rest at night!
`We knew when the rifles rattled
`From the hillside bare and brown,
`And over our weary shoulders
`We felt warm blood run down,
`As we turned for the stretching gallop,
`Crushed to the earth with weight;
`But we carried our riders through it -
`Carried them p'raps too late.
`Steel! We were steel to stand it -
`We that have lasted through,
`We that are old campaigners
`Pitiful, poor, and few.
`Over the sea you brought us,
`Over the leagues of foam:
`Now we have served you fairly
`Will you not take us home?
`Home to the Hunter River,
- stable [´steibəl]
n.马棚 a.稳固的 (初中英语单词) - beloved [bi´lʌvd] a.为....所爱的 n.爱人 (初中英语单词)
- slumber [´slʌmbə] v.&n.睡眠；沉睡状态 (初中英语单词)
- christ [kraist] n.基督 int.天啊! (初中英语单词)
- anxious [´æŋkʃəs] a.担忧的；渴望的 (初中英语单词)
- medical [´medikəl] a.医学的；医疗的 (初中英语单词)
- wherever [weər´evə] conj.无论在哪里 (初中英语单词)
- aboard [ə´bɔ:d] ad.&prep.在...上 (初中英语单词)
- gallop [´gæləp] n.&v.奔驰；急速行进 (初中英语单词)
- monkey [´mʌŋki] n.猴子 v.乱弄；胡闹 (初中英语单词)
- reckon [´rekən] v.计算；认为；估计 (初中英语单词)
- pardon [´pɑ:dən] n.&vt.原谅；饶恕；赦免 (初中英语单词)
- sleeping [´sli:piŋ] n.&a.睡着(的) (初中英语单词)
- disturb [di´stə:b] vt.扰乱；使不安；打乱 (初中英语单词)
- learnt [lə:nt] learn 的过去式(分词) (初中英语单词)
- awaken [ə´weikən] v.唤起，叫醒 (初中英语单词)
- constant [´kɔnstənt] a.坚定的；坚贞的 (初中英语单词)
- excitement [ik´saitmənt] n.兴奋；骚动；煽动 (初中英语单词)
- hillside [´hilsaid] n.山腰 (初中英语单词)
- hunter [´hʌntə] n.猎人；猎狗；猎马 (初中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
- plough [plau] n.耕地 v.犁 (高中英语单词)
- strive [straiv] vi.争取；努力；奋斗 (高中英语单词)
- strain [strein] vt.拉紧 vi.拖 n.张力 (高中英语单词)
- thanksgiving [´θæŋks,giviŋ] 感恩节 (高中英语单词)
- battery [´bætəri] n.炮兵连；炮台；电池 (高中英语单词)
- hurried [´hʌrid] a.仓促的，慌忙的 (高中英语单词)
- homeward [´həumwəd] ad.&a.回家(的) (高中英语单词)
- colonel [´kə:nəl] n.海(陆)军上校 (高中英语单词)
- clatter [´klætə] n.&v.喧嚷；骚动 (高中英语单词)
- cripple [´kripəl] n.跛子 vt.使残疾 (高中英语单词)
- drowsy [´drauzi] a.困倦的；催眠的 (高中英语单词)
- escort [´eskɔ:t] n.伴随者；警卫(队) (高中英语单词)
- novelty [´nɔvəlti] n.新奇(的事物) (高中英语单词)
- ragged [´rægid] a.衣服破烂的 (高中英语单词)
- ridden [´ridn] ride 的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
- ambulance [´æmbjuləns] n.救护车(船，飞机) (英语四级单词)
- daring [´deəriŋ] a.&n.勇敢(的) (英语四级单词)
- blooming [´blu:miŋ] a.正开花的；妙龄的 (英语四级单词)
- drawing [´drɔ:iŋ] n.画图；制图；图样 (英语四级单词)
- blessed [´blesid] a.享福的；神圣的 (英语四级单词)
- hammock [´hæmək] n.吊床；圆丘 (英语四级单词)
- corporal [´kɔ:pərəl] a.肉体的，身体的 (英语四级单词)
- bedside [´bedsaid] n.床边 a.护理的 (英语四级单词)
- homestead [´həumsted] n.家宅，宅基 (英语四级单词)
- vicious [´viʃəs] a.不道德的；刻毒的 (英语四级单词)
- dashing [´dæʃiŋ] a.勇猛的；生气勃勃的 (英语六级单词)
- respite [´respait] n.暂缓 vt.缓期执行 (英语六级单词)
- stretcher [´stretʃə] n.伸张者(器)；担架 (英语六级单词)
- holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)
- cracked [krækt] a.有裂缝的；碎的；粗哑 (英语六级单词)
- picket [´pikit] n.(尖)桩 v.设置；监视 (英语六级单词)
- calling [´kɔ:liŋ] n.点名；职业；欲望 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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